1. Field of the Invention
The invention is related air filtration systems. More particularly, the invention is related to a system and method for filtering air from an exterior environment for use in an interior enclosed environment, so that environmentally harmful materials are prevented from entering the interior enclosed environment, and thus making it safe for the occupants of the interior enclosed environment.
2. Background of the Invention
There are many situations in which workers are asked to perform certain jobs, which, of their own accord are hazardous. These include operating heavy lift equipment in construction or mining operations, operating earth moving equipment, such as trucks, in the same areas, and then there are other situations in which, while the task is not necessarily unusually perilous, the environment can make is so.
Examples of the former include operating dump trucks to move large amounts of earth in or near mining operations. Such facilities can be dusty, from ordinary dirt, but also dusty with dangerous compounds, such as coal dust, wood dust and other particulate matters that are dangerous in large quantities to the human body. Workers in these environments often have to suffer through unpleasant and in some cases dangerous work environments due to the absence of safer, less costly alternatives to their present vehicular “tools”.
An example of the latter, which has recently been brought to the forefront of our national attention, include the “ordinary” fire and rescue personnel who have to respond to fires, and thus risk being exposed to significant amounts of dangerous (or even toxic) smoke. There is also the possibility that these rescue situations were brought about maliciously by people with political goals, in order to inspire terror in the citizenry of the locale in which the attack occurred. These situations can include not only the aforementioned dangerous or toxic smoke and other particulate matters, but biological and nuclear agents, that can cause the emergency responders to be hampered in their jobs, thereby multiplying the lethality of the first strike.
Thus, a need exists for not only manufacturers, mining and constructions workers to be protected from adverse environmental conditions, but also police, fire and other rescue workers to be protected in accidental or otherwise emergency situations. Furthermore, there exists a need for the system that makes the vehicles safe to operate in these adverse conditions to be less costly, more efficient, easier to maintain and operate than existing devices. In addition, there exists the need for the same system to be made available to the average citizen for personal use in the event that widespread deliberate attacks or natural disasters occur, and they can safely secure a small facility in their residence, allowing them some respite for a certain period of time, which can be the difference, literally, between life and death.